Offers and Calls to Action: The first thing that the recipients should see when they open your email is the reiterated offer from your subject line and the call-to-action. You have less than three seconds to capture the interest of your readers, and if the offer and CTA is not visible immediately you will lose them.
There is an art to creating tempting offers as you must make your audience feel that there is a value to what you are offering and that they are getting a great deal on it. You must choose your words carefully, noting the impact and implication of each and every word. For example, the offer “1/2 off” and “Last day to save 40%” produce different feelings and reactions, and it is important for you to understand the emotional value of your messaging. Even though the first offer is for a greater discount percentage, it brings to mind a bargain basement sale full of old items that the store is desperate to get rid of because no one wanted them. The second offer is much more appealing as it implies that the items will only be marked down a limited time before they return to full price. Your readers will be tempted to take action and purchase the item immediately so they do not miss out on the opportunity.
The same is true for the call-to-action button. A very common CTA is the command “Click Here” as it is simple, straightforward, and universally understood. But that does not mean that it is good; in fact, quite the opposite is true. If your call to action includes action words, such as “Act Now!” or “Yes - Tell Me More!,” you will be generating excitement and interest, and you will be creating a very clear path for your readers to follow. Even better calls-to-action inform the reader what to expect on the landing page, such as “Registration Options Available Here”.
The offer and CTA should be repeated, both in text and image form, throughout your email message; however, it should not be the only way for your readers to get to your landing page. You should also include links in the content as well as the full URL address. Giving your audience options is the best way to increase your click-through rate.
Like the subject lines, you should perform an A/B split test to see what works best with your audience. This scientific approach will give you the data you need to take the guess work out of your emails. Testing is easy – simply select a portion of your list, such as 500 names, and split them into two groups. Send group A one version of the offer and call to action and send group B a second version, then send the rest of your list the version of the email that generated the most responses.
It is important to remember to test only one section of the email at a time. If the two versions contain different subject lines, images, offers, and calls to action, it will be impossible to determine what individual part of the email worked the best.
